Vivid Memories
by DustedWithStars
Summary: "Wait, we're doing this again?" "Yes! My inner FANGIRL must be satisfied!" "Your inner FANGIRL must be really weak if you gave up on the first try so easily." "Oh, shut up." Memories of all the stupid, silly things, the unbreakable bonds and people we love.
1. Chapter 1

_ Adorable moments, adorable stuff. This is just a small side series I'm expiramenting with along with my main series, Impossible Flowers (shameless self promotion is shameless). As said, it will have no plot other than small moments of romance and friendships. Oh, and my cover is upside down because I'm a jerk and computers are really mean. _

Chapter One~Confessions

"I love you!"

Lacie's quill pen dropped from her hand, splattering ink all over her lovely diagram of circles and lines. Parchment was spread on all the available surface on the table, two flickering candles providing the only light.

She turned to Frederick and Chrom, staring open mouthed at Henry, who had just burst in, cold air still swirling around him and a crow feather caught in his hair.

"The hell did he just say?"

"I believe he just confessed his love to you, my lady," Frederick croaked out.

"Freddykins, stop calling me my lady," Lacie said.

"I would, if you gave up on calling me Freddykins." He shuddered.

"Nope. Permission de-nied."

"Um..." Chrom stared at the small room, situated somewhere in the lower corner of the castle, and cluttered with books on stradegy and war and small wooden chess pieces. The carpet was faded through years of feet shuffling back and forth in impatience and nerves, and he was pretty sure in all the years this room had been used this had never happened before.

"You should totally marry me!" Henry cackled, as Lacie blushed and hoped feverently no one noticed.

"Freddykins, translate."

"He just proposed."

Lacie blinked, slowly. "What the hell? Seriously."

"Well," Henry said cheerfully, holding up finger. "I confessed, proposed, and basically gave you my undying love! It's cawse for celebration!"

"Henry, I like you, bu-"

"So you do feel the same! Let's set a date for our wedding!"

"Whoa, hear me out first! See, I like you as a friend, considering you only just joined us a few weeks ago. And you don't seem serious."

"Well, I am. I love you a whole lot. So to get to know me more, why don't we decapitate Risen together?"

"... High five me!" Lacie yelled, for Henry was an awesome pyschopath. Henry complied.

"Um, Henry?" Chrom asked tentatively. "Can we do this later? No offense, but it's weird to see someone propose to my best friend during a tactics meeting? Yeah."

"I'll get him!" Tharja screeched, jumping from a loose tile in the ceiling.

"The f-"

"Milord! We're keeping this PG-13!"

"Sorry. What the fudge is she doing up there?!"

"Proposing to my darling Lacie, are we?!" she shrieked.

"Yours? If you count the fact that she always avoids you, you use possessive pronouns and have a stalking fetish, you have a long way to go!" Henry opened Nosferatu.

"Oooo!" Lacie couldn't help it; the two Plegian mages were amusing, especially given their intense rivalry and hate. And it was sort of cool to see people fighting over her, which upped her ego a few notches.

"Please? Guys! You can't fight here!" Chrom pleaded.

"No!"

"Nya ha ha, I wanna decorate the walls with your blood!"

"C'mon guys, can we do this later? I'm busy," Lacie added.

"Let's take this outside," Tharja hissed.

"I'm fine either way!"

Tharja clamored back through the ceiling tiles and Henry skipped happily away. Chrom raised his arms in limp disbelief. How could they work as an army if those two creepy dark mages only listened to Lacie?

"My life just got complicated," Lacie groaned.

"Ha," Chrom grunted. "As if it wasn't complicated before?"

"...True."

_ Whee! Hope you enjoyed that. I also have no more funny stuff to say now, so over and out. _


	2. Chapter 2

_This is the long awaited *dun dun* chapter two! After a long conversation with someone I won't name, I decided jealousy would be a good theme for the next couple of chapters. _

Chapter Two~ What Do I Call This?

It had been several days after Henry's confession, and nothing more had happened. No flowers, no romantic late night meetings, no chocolate stolen from Gaius's candy stash. No cute notes, no blushing as they passed by in the halls.

Honestly, it miffed off Lacie more than she wanted to say. It's not like she expected Henry to be all romantic and try to win her affections, but she didn't expect him to act so normally either. It hurt her pride. Didn't he want a cute, insane, vertically challenged tactician?

She hoped he didn't expect her to act that way. It wasn't really her forte, not say she wasn't girly. She had her head in the clouds, but not so far up she couldn't see clearly what he did: he talked to all the other girls. A lot. Like, more-than-he-talked-to-his-guy-friends a lot. And that pissed her off, though in hindsight it shouldn't have.

"Henry," she said one evening. He was in the barracks, dissecting a Risen arm, and she watched with interest at the blood and rotting flesh and the gleam of the scalpel. "Why haven't you done anything?"

"Mwuah?" he said. "Do what?"

Then they both sniggered at the inappropriate joke.

"Okay, seriously! You confess to me." Lacie held up a finger. "Then you propose and never! Never! Talk to me!"

"Eh, I'm really busy. My crows can relay messages back and forth, if you want." Then he spotted Nowi. "Hold up! Gotta fly!" He left with Risen arm and scalpel in hand.

That night, Lacie captured a crow and spent several seconds writing a letter before sending it off grumpily.

Henry- You are a jackass. I hate you.

He sent her a reply later that night.

Lacie- I can't be a jackass. I'm not a part of the donkey family. I am a dick, though.

Cheap shot Henry, she thought. But still inapproipately funny.

_Trollololol. Dirty jokes galore. Sorry, but I had to. I'm uploading this to make myself feel better. _


	3. Chapter 3

_I love writing this. I should go back to Impossible Flowers but writing short, hilarious stories involving Henry and Lacie? Too fun to resist. Also, I will be including my previous work in here, Vivid Memories. TROLLOL._

Chapter Three~ Hormones, Times Four

Lacie plunked her head on the table. She sighed dejectedly, watching Henry and Nowi converse animatedly with each other. Sure, she was the one who had basically rejected his sudden offer of marriage, but now she was the one regretting it. Wait, what?

There was a familiar sigh and plunk next to her. She turned her head to see Ricken with his head on the table, a plate of bear meat in front of him. He watched Nowi forlornly, and then he and Lacie both sighed in unison.

"Double sigh! Yeah!" Lacie cheered weakly.

Ricken, Lissa, Donnel, Henry, Lacie and Nowi often ran themselves straight into trouble and pranks; they were the offical troublesome group of kids. But Donny and Lissa were getting married, Henry had opened up a fun bucket of angst between him and Lacie, and Nowi and Ricken? Well, last time they talked she had almost burned down the camp.

"I don't like Nowi!" Ricken had protested one day. Henry sat across from him, smiling sagely as usual and nodding.

"I see, I see!"

"No, seriously! She's annoying, loud, rude and girly!"

"I see!"

"No, you don't! Your eyes are closed! How do you even get around camp?!"

"Would you rather I open then?"

"..." Before Ricken could contemplate whenever he wanted Henry to open his eyes, Nowi had burst into the room. Tears were welling up, threatening to flood his tent.

"You don't like me?" She sniffed. "T-that's mean!"

"Nowi!" Ricken stood, blushing furiously. "I didn't mean it that way! I didn't know you were standing out there!"

"Oh, so you would talk about me behind my back like that?!"

"What? No!"

She sniffled again, and placed her hands in her pockets, curling in on herself. Ricken rushed forward, about to offer apologies and reassurances, when she took out her Dragonstone+.

"I hate you too!"

"Nowi, no!" Too late.

She transformed into a dragon with petals fluttering around her and a soft, white gleam of light. Ricken stood transfixed at the sight of the glowing dragon, the shimmering scales and tattered wings.

Then she set fire to his tent.

Later, Chrom had a talk with her, for Panne, Cordelia and Severa were currently homeless. It ended with a meeting that included Lacie and Ricken, but she almost burned down the camp as she rushed outside to escape Ricken's apologies. She didn't want to burn down Lacie's tent first. Very considerate of her.

Ricken's sigh brought her back to the present. He picked at his food, and he and Lacie exchanged a look full of understanding and angst.

"They," he said simply. Lacie understood what he meant immediately. They had a deeper connection now, forged by the power of hormones.

"Yeah. Probably?"

"True."

"Crashing it."

"Definitely."

"Cake."

"Share. Gaius."

"Cake, then. Ooo, fire tomes."

"Yes!"

They high fived. They had just forged a plan to end all plans. If they were lucky, maybe Lissa would help them.

"How cute, you two!" Sumia smiled warmly as she passed them, tilting her head. "Henry and Nowi sure are getting along pretty well, huh? Maybe they'll even get married."

Ricken and Lacie looked up, shook their heads, and sighed loudly, all in unison. Sumia watched them with confusion as Nowi and Henry left the dining hall, giggling about something or the other.

Ricken and Lacie spent several hours in the hall, sighing in unison and angst and occasionally making one worded plans, until Cherche kicked them out and threatened to feed them to Minerva.

_ Ah, angst. To all my readers, thank you for, uh, reading this! I hope you enjoyed it. And if anyone even looks at the notes in each chapter, ThatOneSelfInsertGuy deserves a mention. He has two works so far: The Realm of the New God and ROTNG Outtakes. Give them a look for humor, darkness and fluff, but escpecially for Noah. Love that guy. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, okay. I should stop writing so much of this. I mean, Impossible Flowers Chap Six is technically half way done. But I had to write down this idea! Well, on to it, my friends!_

Chapter Four~ Cawse and Effect

"This is the best idea ever!"

"I know!"

Ricken and Lacie high fived, and almost topped out of the tree they were leaning against. The tree stretched to almost brush the top of the sky, with large, thick branches sprouting from every angle and a sturdy trunk with flaking, crumbly bark. The whole forest was colored an inky black, shapes and leaves turned to shifting shadows.

"Gods, I hate heights," Lacie muttered, closing her eyes and hugging the trunk obsessively.

"But this is a necessary part of the plan," Ricken argued.

"I know, I know. So, you did slip the note under his pillow?"

"... I thought you were doing that."

They strained their eyes to peer at each other's faces.

"Shit."

But surprisingly, they managed to fix their mistake and scramble back up just as the sun started to rise, Ricken coaxing Lacie to clamor slowly to the stakeout branch, step by step.

That morning, Henry awoke to a distressing sight: his crows were gone. Hidielspieg wasn't there to caw at him and Lutherburgenstien wasn't there to peck affectionately on his ear.

"Nya ha ha! Better borrow some of Lacie's books on curses," he muttered. "Where did I put Goetia? I love Goetia."

As he shifted up in his bed, a folded piece of paper fluttered down like a moth from where it had perched precariously half way between the pillow and empty space. He picked it up, squinting at the neat, tiny hand writing.

Henry- We r holeding ur crowes capteve. Com to the forist with Nowi at for.

"Weird," he muttered. "I'm pretty sure that isn't how you spell Nowi."

He slipped on his clothes and hurried to find Nowi, and they sat huddled together during breakfast. He placed the note on the table.

"What is this?" She bit into a bear leg.

"Someone's holding my crows captive. They want us to come to the forist at for."

"Why is it misspelled?"

"It makes it sound cooler."

"That makes sense."

"What are you going to do?"

"Eh, get some dark tomes and kill people at for in the forist."

"Okay. Hey, where's Lacie and Ricken?"

Somewhere in the forest, Lacie and Ricken were sharing a pack of chocolates Lacie had stolen from Gaius. They were high quality, smooth and creamy, with a gentle white choclate filling.

"I bet Gaius will kill you when he finds these missing," Ricken remarked as he stuffed another one into his mouth. "But oh my Gods, your death will be worth it."

"I know." Lacie nodded and slapped Ricken's hand away. "Hands off the dead woman's chocolate."

They savored the chocolates in silence. The forest was now resketched with muted shades of green, sunlight sparking down from breaks in the trees. Through the canopy, Lacie could make out a sky as blue as a Robin's egg (because Robins lay eggs. Get it?), a broken shell protecting the forest.

"Hey, it's almost four," Lacie murmured.

"How do you know that?"

"I judge the sun's position in the sky and tell from that. Plus, the author is using it as a plot device to advance the story."

"Okay...?"

Ricken and Lacie peered down at the ground, waiting the last few moments in silence. They were so lost in thought they almost missed the moment when a blast from Arcfire almost knocked them off the tree.

"Crap!" Lacie shrieked, and hugged the tree. A spot on the branch was singed and ashy, and Ricken huddled closer to her.

"Ricken? Lacie?" Nowi's disbelief carried all the way up. "You stole the crows?"

They recovered from their intense shock and Ricken leapt up trumphiantly, as Lacie tried to look threatening as possible.

"Yes, we did! We are the notorious crow thieves!"

"Well, why did you do it?"

Ricken and Lacie looked at each other. They hasn't really thought about why. They had just done it because it seemed right.

"Uh... Deep reasons you wouldn't understand," Ricken shouted.

"Really deep ones," Lacie added.

"So you're jealous," Nowi concluded, hands on hips. "You're such a baby."

"We're what?"

"She said we were jealous."

"Are we jealous?"

"It makes sense to me. I'm a master tactician, so you should believe me."

"You're a baby too, Nowi," Henry said, closing Arcfire.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Meanie!" Nowi stuck her tongue out at him.

"I am one, thanks for noting that!"

"Why do you think we're jealous?" Ricken whispered as he watched the two argue back and forth.

"I think it's because you like Nowi," Lacie answered.

"Then you did it because you like Henry."

"That fits together nicely. High five."

The two friends grinned at each other. Down below, Henry and Nowi looked up, unable to do anything but stare at the two people tucked away in the tree.

Henry blasted them with Arcfire. "Oopsie! Better get down now!"

Ricken had to encourage Lacie step by step to climb down the tree, and Nowi and Henry once again watched them in their little bubble.

"Wait a second," Henry said. "Where are my friends?"

"Ricken knows!"

"Lacie knows!"

They stared at each other again.

"Dammit," Lacie muttered. "I knew the author would use this as a cheap cliff hanger."

"What?"

"Nothing."

_ And they all lived happily ever after! Not really. Tired and feeling sorta lonely. Must be because there isn't any people around. _


	5. Chapter 5

_This is a certified stress reliever. Seriously. So thank you all for reviewing this! I'm sorta surprised that people like it, and it makes me very grateful and happy! Unicorns, away!_

Chapter Five~ This Isn't My Fault

"Why the hell am I stuck in a tree again?!"

"To get back Henry's crows. And you don't need to be up here with me, you doofus!"

"You're the doofus! You're the one who lost the crows!"

"Well, you're the one who suggested we stuff them in a random tree!"

"Psh, I'm a tactician, not a biologist. I didn't know they would fly away!"

"They were in a tree. Why wouldn't they fly away!?"

Lacie shrugged, then returned to closing her eyes and tightly hugging the tree, rough bark digging into her coat and poking her through her clothes. She hated trees, she decided, and told the tree so.

Ricken sighed and leaned against her back, watching the sunset. It was unextraordinary: a few watery streaks of color, and a molten bullion of a sun.

Lacie clutched at his arm, and with any other girl (mainly Nowi. But who was asking?) this might have been considered romantic. But this was Lacie and they were going to be spending a cold, long night in a tree, hoping her ridiculous plan to get the crows back might work.

Her plan was to stake out all night on a tree with bait that Henry was bringing, and wait for the crows to come around. ... In hindsight, it was an awful idea.

"Dammit it all. Ricken, where's my chocolate?"

"Uh..."

"You ate it all?!"

"...No?"

"I hate you too. You don't hear me saying it, though."

"But you just said it."

"Idiot! That was my witty one liner!" Trees made her irritable. She decided to up them on her top ten list of things she hated, right up there with Frederick's training sessions and Ricken.

"Witty?"

"You just want to me to hate you. By the way, I have some interesting things to tell Nowi."

"Hey!" He shifted and caused a fearful squeak to emit from Lacie as she pressed closer to the tree, still holding his arm like it was the end of the world. "You're violating the bro code."

"We aren't bros, jerk."

"Well, I can always tell Henry how you feel."

"He proposed to me."

"Right. But it's not like he did anything about that afterwards."

"I SHIP YOU TWO!"

Ricken peered down, wide eyed at Lissa, who was grinning up at them. He retracted his arm from Lacie's grip as Lissa just stared at them knowingly. One hand was on her waist and the other was clutching Donny's, who tapped his bucket hat a few times.

"Don't let me bother you lovebirds," she cheerfully called.

"And what are you doing? On your way to make Owain?"

Donny blushed, and Lissa shaked a mockingly threatening fist at her. Ricken groaned. When was Henry coming around, anyways?

"C'mon, Lacie. Don' be like tha," Donny began, starting to drag Lissa away. "I reckon you're onl' sore 'bout Henry."

"OOHHH!" Lissa yelled, turning her head to stick out her tongue. "You were just flamed!"

"Shut it! I'll get you back!"

"I'll be waiting! Bring it on! Nya, nya, nya!"

"What was that?!"

"I'm changing my class to cat!"

"I dictate your class changes! Take that! Ooo, it rhymed!"

Ricken pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes. Night had finally fallen, accompanied by the sounds of animals rustling in the undergrowth, a spangle of bright stars covering the night sky and shadows that were different shades of black and gray, writhing and squirming.

"Where the hell is Henry?! He better get his lazy ass here soon or I'll burn down his tent!"

Lacie's "potty mouth" activated whenever she was irratated or tired.

"I don't know. But he should be here soon."

But he hadn't come later, either. The night passed, gave a pat to day and Lacie and Ricken were still stuck in the tree, tired, angry and sore, blinking against the early morning sunrise and the annoying chirps of birds.

"Damn birds better shut up. I'll blast them out of the sky with Elwind and we'll see who wants to chirp then."

"Damn Henry! We were stuck in a tree all night waiting for him!"

"Let's go kill him!"

Ricken wanted to agree, but then something occurred to him: he had been acting like a child around Lacie, complaining and whining, grudgingly going along with her harebrained schemes. If he ever wanted to grow up, maybe he should put his foot down, say no to her bad ideas.

Wait a second... Why had they stayed all night in the tree? Why hadn't they left as soon as it became clear that Henry had no intention of coming?

"... Let's just go, alright?" He nimbly hopped his way down from the tree, leaving Lacie disoriented as she squinted at the ground seemingly far below her.

"Ugh. One foot below the other, one foot below the other."

What happened next could have been chalked up to the fact that she had no sleep, or that she was closing her eyes while trying to navigate her way down, or blamed on Henry, for leaving them in a tree all night after promising to bring the bait. It could even be pointed to Ricken, for leaving the aerophobic tactician to her own devices. But no amount of reasoning or blaming could help what happened next.

She was about to place her foot down on a branchwhen her hand slipped, leaving half of her limbs dangling in midair. Before she could have time to shriek, curse or regain her foothold, her grip slackened and she plummeted to the ground, knocking all of the breath her body and any thoughts out of her head.

_ Another plot twist! Sigh. Henry, how idiotic and rude. Better have a good explaination ready. As always, enjoy and have a great day! I know I won't. I'll be in school. ... It won't be that bad, but still. I have to sound like a typical kid. _


	6. Chapter 6

_I have nothing witty to say. Sorry. ...ON TO THE STORY! AND I AM JUST EXCITED TO SEE THE NEW FIRE EMBLEM GAME. LIKE I CANNOT EVEN COMPREHEND THIS._

Chapter Six~Lost, Found and Forgotten

Lacie's head felt like someone had stuffed in it a microwave, boiled it for a few hours until it was an unappealing, thick, squishy, partially melted mush and then tiny people decided it was a good idea to jab her all over with tiny knives; it didn't hurt too badly, but it was itchy and annoying.

But then again, how was she supposed to know what a microwave was? That was against the rules of logic. And where did the idea of tiny people come from? ...She was breaking the fourth wall. She had got to stop doing that.

She opened her eyes then, which were bleary and crusted. Her mouth was as dry as sandpaper, lips chapped. In short, she felt like shit, and she was pretty sure she looked worse than what she felt like. She stiffly moved into a sitting position, groaning slightly at the ache in her joints, because she was an old lady now, an old lady who deserved the utmost respect for being so awesome.

"Sleeping beauty awakes, but I fear the princess has never looked as good as she did today," Owain yelled. Lacie would have kicked him in the balls if she wasn't a poor old lady. He paused and ran a hand through his purple hair before getting down on his knees. "MOTHER, MOTHER THE RISEN HAS RISEN! No, wait, that sounds bad... MOTHER I AM AFRAID LACIE HAS BEEN LOST TO THE CLUTCHES OF-"

"Shut up, Owain." Lacie managed to barely croak out the words, and Owain's obnoxious voice only sent more tiny men marching up and attacking her brain with pick axes.

"But-"

"OWAIN GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THE PATIENT BEFORE I RIP OUT YOUR BALLS AND STUFF THEM DOWN YOUR-"

"SULLY SHUT UP! DON'T TALK LIKE THAT IN THE MEDICAL TENT!"

Lacie sighed. The medical tent was small, with only two movable bed rolls for potential patients to lie down on, and they were surprisingly soft, too. The floor was the soil of whatever land they were camping on, and some wooden planks were nailed into a rough table shape and held extra staffs and some more traditional medical herbs.

Sully and Maribelle almost ripped the tent flap in half as they stormed their way in. For some reason, Naga had forsaken them and let Sully be a nurse.

"Owain, don't yell like that in the tent," Maribelle ordered.

"It's not my-" Sully raised her lance. "-totally my fault. I am very sorry. I will write a poem dedicated to you in hopes of forgiveness. Well, see you later, Aunt Maribelle!"

He fled before another word could be exchanged.

Lacie blinked. She felt disoriented, because the bright, warm light of afternoon was flooded through the tent every time someone pushed open the flaps, and it boldly peeked the edges and corners of the bolted down fabric like Tharja. On that note, it probably was Tharja. ...The light was Tharja? Wut?

Maribelle examined her critically. "Your wounds are mostly healed. The only thing you'll notice is some slight pain and dizziness."

"Gee, you think?" She winced as another platoon of tiny men joined in the very fun game of beat-up-the-tactician.

"You can't be that badly hurt if you're mouthing off already," Maribelle sniffed.

"Sorry," Lacie muttered. She made it a mission to keep being in the good graces of all of the Shepherds. Last week, Gerome ignored her. No sighs, no stiffness, no "go away", no "you're batshit crazy", but a very friendly ignoring. It was progress, considering this was Batman and he had his dark, mysterious secrets and dark, mysterious past. ...Uh, future? ... Future past? Future Past DLC!

Lacie shook her head. Her thoughts were all over the place, slipping and sliding like water cupped in her palms. No matter how tightly she clung to them, they always trickled away. But where did they end up, then? A dark, phantomless abyss where all hopes of sanity and coherent thought went to die, probably.

She closed her eyes again as Cordelia walked into the tent, calmly lifting the thick flap with one hand and grasping Gaius in the other, rays of strong sunlight illuminating them and dispelling any lurking shadows.

"Who let Sully work in the medical tent?" Gaius said, holding a black clothed bundle protectively to his chest.

"Crazy idiots who were high on some form of illegal substance," Lacie answered, before lying back down to stare at the sloped ceiling. Now, the tiny men had left the present of a pounding headache.

"I hate all you mofos too," Sully retorted. She kicked Gaius somewhere...painful, judging from his grunts, before storming off.

Cordelia hovered over her, letting go of Gaius, and resting a cool hand on her forehead. "Take it easy."

"Why is Cordelia here?" Lacie muttered.

"We were going to give you chocolate, but in this-"

"Hand it over!" She sat up so fast she saw stars and black spots dancing on the edges of her vision.

"My chocolate!" Gaius screamed.

"Oh no you don't! It's mine!"

They glared at each other. Lacie epically sensed an epic battle of epic proportions coming…. Before Gaius ran off screaming.

"THIS CHOCOLATE WILL NEVER BE YOURS!"

"CHOCOLATE?!" Stahl popped up out of nowhere and tackled Gaius. "I'M HUNGRY!"

"GET AWAY FROM THE MEDICAL TENT!" Maribelle grabbed her parasol and daintily ran after.

Lacie curled up on the fluffy bedroll, not even caring about the insanity that was the Shepherds, and Cordelia covered her with a warm, fluffy blanket, stroking her hair with a gentle hand. Lacie wondered if this was what a mother felt like; made of tender words and quiet care, unconditional love that grew unbidden and covered her in downy snowflakes, so soft and sweet, but didn't snowflakes disappear in the end, a quick breath of winter's magic?

"That sounded so wrong…." she whispered. Her head now hosted hell, and Gangrel was having a party there, burning at the meaty tissue of her brain, gouging the insides of her skull.

"That's Gaius, alright."

"Why'd you marry him, then?"

She laughed, twisting at the strands of Lacie's ong, dark hair. "Because he needed me. He was an idiot, always covered in crumbs, stains and dirt. He made me happy and realized that I didn't need to hopelessly dream about a man I couldn't have."

"Really? But why you?"

"Can you explain love? Can you explain the way a human works, the way we live and fight and breathe?"

"Not really. That's why it's human, yeah?" She paused for a second. "Cordelia, I'mma pretend you're my mom. Gaius can be the stupid dad. Severa's my tsundere sister who secretly adores me."

"I heard that and I hate you!" Severa called.

"I feel really weird right now," Lacie continued. "Sort of lonely. Sort of hopeless. And really tired."

"Want me to go get your chocolate?"

"Yes, please, Mom. But stay a while longer."

"Hey, Lacie? You have the whole Shepherds as your family, so don't worry, okay?"

"Okay. Promise?"

"Always."

She let herself drift off to sleep as Cordelia got up to leave. She wondered about her real family, and if fake families were even worse than that, 'cause they didn't have that bond of blood to connect them. But even then, it wasn't like she was important to anyone. She was a lonely drifter. She was a disposable Plegian. She had friends, right? But how shallow were their bonds, really?

Wouldn't they hate her? People were never as good as they seemed, and the Shepherds haD never acted less than noble. Now she wished Cordelia had stayed, to drive away the demons she couldn't kill.

_This turned out differently from what I was expecting. It went dark, and Lacie's inner thoughts were revealed. I wonder what exactly will happen~. More screen time for the other Shepherds next chapter, yeah? Yeah?_


End file.
